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Thompson Board of Education reviews 2025–26 budget draft, flags rising special-education and staffing costs
Summary
The Thompson Board of Education reviewed a $2,400,297 draft 2025–26 budget (a 4.5% increase) on Jan. 6. Discussion centered on rising pupil-services costs (listed at $560,000), classification of paraprofessional salaries, a 5% transportation contract increase amid falling ridership, and staffing and capital needs.
The Thompson Board of Education met Jan. 6 to review the first draft of its 2025–26 education budget, which the minutes list at $2,400,297, a 4.5% increase over the prior year.
Melinda A. Smith provided the board’s educational update and led the budget presentation. She identified the main cost drivers as paraprofessional salaries, increased pupil-services spending, building repairs and maintenance, and potential cafeteria-related expenses. "The $560,000 pupil services account includes contracted services for special education students to keep them in the district rather than sending them out," Smith said, adding that the line is volatile and has been steadily increasing because of the costs of serving individual students’ needs.
Board members asked for clarity on how paraprofessionals’ salaries are classified between general education and special education to ensure proper allocation in the draft. Members also noted a proposed 5% contracted rate increase for transportation; the board discussed falling bus ridership and the possibility that fewer buses will be needed in future years.
The minutes record additional operational concerns: high landline costs and varying cell-phone reimbursements, with at least one member suggesting an assessment of phone contracts and a possible increase in reimbursement for secretaries. Members also proposed hiring an additional custodian to reduce persistent overtime and substitute costs while acknowledging recruitment challenges.
The board discussed developing a long-term capital-asset plan for vehicles and grounds equipment and suggested consulting the town about future purchases.
Steve Herbert, identified in the minutes as a Board of Finance member, pressed for more detail on the historical volatility of special-education spending and asked about the salary impact on the budget. He also asked if student expulsions were driving outplacement costs; Smith replied that there are "maybe one or two students expelled per school year," and that expulsions can increase the need for out-placement services that fall under pupil services.
Board members questioned a $50,000 adult-education assessment fee paid to Eastconn and asked how many Thompson residents use those mandated services.
The minutes contain a formatting inconsistency: the attendance line lists Kathleen Herbert among absentees but the record also states that Kathleen Herbert called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. The minutes identify Justin Yong as leading the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. after a motion by Justin Yong, seconded by Kristin Schultz; the motion passed unanimously.
Next steps noted in discussion included adding clearer salary-impact detail to the special-education slides and further assessment of transportation needs, phone contracts and custodial staffing; no formal budget votes or approvals were recorded at this meeting.
